Key Highlights of NEP 2020's Important Features at a Glance
Students must not just study, but more crucially, learn how to learn, given how quickly the global ecology and employment landscape are changing. As a result, education today is shifting away from teaching knowledge and toward teaching students how to be innovative, adapt, and take in new information in dynamic sectors. It also teaches students how to be creative and multidisciplinary.
The National Education Strategy 2020, a new education policy recently announced by the Ministry of Education (MoE), aims to close the gap between the state of learning outcomes now and what is necessary. The new education strategy is the first one of the twenty-first century to handle the numerous expanding developmental features of our nation. This policy suggests overhauling and updating every area of the educational system
What is National Education Policy 2020?
On July 29, 2020, the National Education Policy was adopted by the Indian Union Cabinet. With this new education policy, India's school and higher education sectors are expected to undergo radical reform. The Indian government unveiled a new initiative to internationalise education from the preschool years through the secondary years.
The latest 5+3+3+4 curricular structure, which corresponds to ages 3-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14-18, will replace the current 10+2 system under NEP 2020. The key components of NEP 2020 are enhancing educational quality by emphasising both creativity and innovation, and working to make India a "vibrant knowledge society" over the following ten years.
Salient features of NEP 2020
On the basis of the fundamental pillars of Access, Quality, Equity, Affordability, and Accountability, NEP 2020's key components were developed. The updated policy is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals set forth in the 2030 Agenda. By making school education more holistic, multidisciplinary, flexible, appropriate for the 21st century, and geared on bringing out each student's unique strengths, it focuses on reshaping India into a global knowledge superpower. The following are some of the key elements of NEP 2020:
Ensuring access for all students at all levels of schooling
The goal of National Education Policy 2020 is to guarantee equal access to all levels of schooling. Several strategies for doing this include:
- Infrastructure assistance
- Monitoring kids' development and learning levels
- Facilitating various educational approaches, including both formal and informal ones
- The inclusion of qualified social workers and counsellors in the educational system.
- Classes 3, 5, and 8 can participate in open and distance learning (ODL) programmes offered by the State Open Schools and National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS).
- Programs of secondary education corresponding to classes 10 and 12
- Vocational education courses/programmes from preschool to Grade 12; promotion of adult literacy and life-enrichment programmes.
Developing Basic Literacy and Numeracy (FLN)
Recognizing Foundational Literacy and Numeracy as an Urgent and Essential Prerequisite to Learning is One of the Important Salient Features of NEP 2020. Building the National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy by MHRD is mandated under NEP 2020. By 2025, all primary school students must be proficient in fundamental literacy and numeracy, according to this mission, which requires the states to develop an implementation plan.
Changes to the pedagogy and curriculum in schools
The new school curricula and pedagogy place an emphasis on experiential learning while preparing students with crucial 21st-century skills and lowering course content to enhance fundamental learning and critical thinking. Students will benefit from having more topic options and flexibility as a result. There won't be any clear distinctions between the humanities and sciences, between academic and vocational tracks, or between extracurricular and curricular activities.
Additionally, while developing a new National Curriculum Framework for Schools, NCERT will integrate vocational education in Grades 6 through 8, with internship possibilities provided (NCFSE).
Putting an emphasis on early childhood care and education (ECCE)
The original 10+2 structure is replaced with a new 5+3+3+4 model to be in line with the ages 3–8, 8–11, 11–14, and 14–18 years, with an emphasis on Early Childhood Care and Education. This is one of the most notable aspects of NEP 2020, which will formally include the previously unrecognised age range of three to six years in school curriculum requirements. This is due to the fact that the age range of 3 to 8 years has gained widespread recognition as a crucial period for a child's development of their mental faculties.
